The BBC and the Guardian both carry stories about an unmanned interstellar spacecraft designed to reach the Alpha Centauri system "within a generation" (30 or so years).
The spacecraft would be miniaturised to the size of an average silicon chip, and be propelled by a solar sail which would receive a boost from a powerful laser on the Earth.
Milner's Breakthrough Foundation is running a project, backed by Hawking, to research the technologies needed for such a mission, which they think will soon be feasible.
takyon: The campaign is called Breakthrough Starshot. Breakthrough Initiatives also announced the release of initial observational datasets from the Breakthrough Listen 10-year SETI effort.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday April 13 2016, @05:32PM
It seems like it'd make a lot more sense to just build the giant laser in space, and use it there: no problems with the Earth's movement (the laser could maneuver independently), no problems with atmospheric attenuation, etc. You could also allow it to transfer power over a longer period to the crafts.